UH Board of Regents underscores support for UH researchers

One-year limit on RCUH employment removed

HONOLULU — Returning to a policy stance in place before October 2002, the University of Hawaiʻi Board of Regents (BOR) has taken action to eliminate restrictions on the employment of research and technical personnel at the Research Corporation of the University of Hawaiʻi (RCUH). Since that date, two successive policies have limited, with differing degrees of severity, the duration of certain kinds of employment at RCUH to one year or less.

"The Board‘s actions affirm our support for the research enterprise, and remove the risk that any employees at RCUH will lose their jobs over the one-year rule," said Kitty Lagareta, chair of the Board of Regents. "We‘re committed to supporting the remarkable, and in many cases, world-renowned, research performed by our University of Hawaiʻi faculty."

In the fiscal year ending June 30, 2005, research and training grants and contracts at the University of Hawaiʻi totaled $354 million, up from $328 million in the prior year. Over the past six years, grant awards have doubled in size.

"I applaud the Regents‘ action," stated Interim President David McClain. "We needed clarity on this matter so that we can get on with advancing the frontiers of knowledge, and with our discussions with HGEA, and the BOR has provided that." Formally, the BOR further stayed the implementation of an amendment to its policies adopted in September 2004. This amendment would have partially liberalized an October 2002 policy action that restricted to one year all employment at RCUH. The BOR also confirmed that the October 2002 amendment had been suspended through the adoption date of the September 2004 policy.

The suspension will continue until the UH administration returns to the BOR with proposed revisions to the September 2004 amendment. The administration is in discussions with the Hawaiʻi Government Employees Association, which had filed a prohibited practices complaint against the university over the adoption of the September 2004 amendment.

The effect of the BOR‘s actions is to affirm the administration‘s procedures and practices governing employment at RCUH, which had been in place prior to the October 2002 changes.

About the University of Hawaiʻi

Established in 1907 and fully accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges, the University of Hawaiʻi is the state‘s sole public system of higher education. The UH System provides an array of undergraduate, graduate, and professional degrees and community programs on 10 campuses and through educational, training, and research centers across the state. UH enrolls more than 50,000 students from Hawaiʻi, the U.S. mainland, and around the world. For more information, visit www.hawaii.edu.